Abbreviations

May 30, 2003

- From OK! Magazine, 27 May 2003:

"Almeida Shows New Scents of Style"

Armani and Acting's A-List Celebrate Facelift
Members of some of Britain's most distinguished acting dynasties - among them Edward and Emilia Fox and Joseph Fiennes - turned out to celebrate the re-opening of the newly refurbished Almeida Theatre, in a gala event sponsored by Sensi, the new signature fragrance from Giorgio Armani. Under the artistic directorship of Michael Attenborough, the 'new" Almeida's opening production will be Ibsen's "The Lady from the Sea", directed by Sir Trevor Nunn and starring Natasha Richardson.
Find a picture of the event here

May 24, 2003

- Joe in talks to star alongside Al Pacino

Ananova.com
21 May, 2003
Pacino takes on Shakespeare's Shylock

Al Pacino is set to star alongside Sir Ian McKellen in a film version of The Merchant of Venice. Pacino will play Shylock in the $30 million movie, while Sir Ian will take the part of Antonio. Shakespeare In Love star Joseph Fiennes is tipped for the romantic lead of Bassanio and Cate Blanchett as the heroine Portia. The film will be directed by Michael Radford, the British director whose previous credits include Il Postino and White Mischief. The British-Italian film will start shooting in Venice in September. The Merchant of Venice will be a 16th century period adaptation in a "stylised fashion", according to producer Cary Brokaw. "Shakespeare's story of conflict and religious persecution has a tremendous contemporary resonance," he said. Pacino, 63, has previously played Richard III on stage and made it the subject of a documentary film, Looking For Richard.

Yahoo! News
May 21, 2003
By Robert Simonson

Producer Cary Brokaw is in talks with Al Pacino to play Shylock in a film version of Shakespeare's drama The Merchant of Venice. Shooting would begin on Sept. 1 in Luxembourg and, yes, Venice. Pacino, who is currently playing Herod in Oscar Wilde's Salome on Broadway, has shown a continuing fascination with Shakespeare. His 1996 movie, "Looking for Richard," concerned his wrestling match with the role of Richard III. He also directed the feature. The new flick is financed at $25 to $30 million. Michael Radford will direct and Cate Blanchett, Ian McKellen and Joseph Fiennes are being considered for roles. Brokaw told Variety, "Shakespeare's story of conflict and religious persecution has a tremendous contemporary resonance." The Merchant of Venice has been filmed several times for the screen, though no version has established itself as a classic. A New Zealand production, titled "Te tangata whai rawa o weneti," was completed in early 2001.

- Joe partying in Cannes:

The Hollywood Reporter
22 May, 2003
By Ian Mohr

Harvey Weinstein offered a preview of his next Oscar campaign at the mini-major's annual international distributors luncheon Friday at Majestic Beach. Miramax International used the luncheon - with guests including Steven Soderbergh, Gurinder Chadha, Stephen Woolley, Emily Mortimer, Joseph Fiennes, David Carradine and Delroy Lindo - to show off Stuart Ford, the newly installed Miramax International executive vp, and to hand out its first Box Office Awards of Excellence to top-grossing distributors.

London Times online
May 20, 2003

Arnold Schwarzenegger's film may not be up for a Palme d'Or but he has won the biggest accolade of the festival so far. The MTV party thrown in his honour at the villa of the designer Paul Cardins, which was attended by Joseph Fiennes and Jerry Hall, has been given a "Four Martini" award by the Hollywood Reporter.

Empire Online
19 May, 2003

Co-sponsored by Empire, the Terminator 3 party took place at the space-age Palais Des Bulles up in the hills overlooking the Riviera. Amongst the revellers downing free champagne and Vodka Red Bulls were Arnie himself and co-star Claire Danes, Kate Moss, Joseph Fiennes and Meg Matthews. Tickets were so hot, even this year's Best Actor Oscar winner Adrien Brody had to plead desperately to get past the security guards.

May 17, 2003

- New role for Joe!

Screen Daily
Basinger tops Oscar Wilde scandal
Adam Minns in Cannes 16 May 2003

Kim Basinger is heading to the Riviera to shoot A Good Woman, based on Oscar Wilde’s celebrated play Lady Windermere's Fan, for worldwide sales agent Beyond Films.

Director Mike Barker is to start shooting the scandalous drama in August with a cast including Joseph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson and Tom Wilkinson. Basinger will star in the film, which is set in 1930s New York and the French Riviera – although the producers are weighing up whether to shoot on the French or Italian Riviera.

The central character is an audacious woman ‘of a certain age’ who becomes embroiled in a family scandal, leaves her problems and unpaid bills in New York and sets sail for the French Riviera. Alan Greenspan, Jonathan English, Steve Seibert and Howard Himelstein, who also wrote the script, are producing.

"The film is a wonderful, enchanting drama and it's not surprising that I have already received informal enquiries from major theatrical buyers," said Hilary Davis, Beyond Films' head of sales and acquisitions.

Beyond has three titles screening at Cannes including the world premiere of black comedy Horseplay On Saturday, along with Conspiracy Of Silence and Take Away.

May 14, 2003

- From Christian Aid website comes another article + video clip here:

Joseph Fiennes launches Christian Aid oil and poverty report /13.05.03

Joseph Fiennes launched this year's Christian Aid Week report, Fuelling poverty - Oil, war and corruption, at an event attended by over 200 guests from the media, development groups and industry. The actor talked about his recent fact-finding mission to Angola with Christian Aid and recalled the stories of those who live under the curse of oil.

'I have to confess that if, in the past, I ever thought about oil at all, it was only when filling up the car and I was only concerned of the cost - to me,' said Joseph. 'Like most of us, I suspect, I thought that it was too expensive and that it caused pollution. And that's about it'.

But then Joseph Fiennes met Bella, a mother with six children - who had lost a further four - who has no husband to help her, and who is forced to spend most of her money on unclean water from private vendors - water that will most likely cause diahorrea to her children and threaten their survival.

'Now when I read the Christian Aid report - as well as the facts and figures the stats and quotes, I see the faces,' Joseph said. 'I now see the families, I see the haunted eyes and the malnourished loneliness of the children - 30 per cent of whom will die before the age of five.'

The report Fuelling poverty - Oil, war and corruption reveals how oil-wealth has, more often than not, lead to greater poverty and a high likelihood of war and corruption, rather than peace, wealth and prosperity in developing countries. Christian Aid is calling for transparency between the oil companies and governments, to bring accountability into what has become a corrupt business.

In Angola, for example, $1bn of the $5bn given from oil corporations to the government goes missing every year.

Fernando Macedo, director of the Association for Justice, Peace and Democracy - a Christian Aid partner in Angola - said that Fuelling poverty - Oil, war and corruption would give him a good opportunity to put continued pressure on his government.

'We are committed to making our Government much more accountable,' he said. 'And Christian Aid's support is vital in allowing our work to continue.'

Dr Tulegen Askarov is an economist who is pushing for transparency from the government and oil corporations in Kazakhstan. He explained how generally in Kazakhstan 25 per cent of people are living under the official poverty line, but unbelievably the level of poverty in oil producing areas is as high as 45 per cent.

'In Almaty, where I live and there are no natural resources like oil, only 5.4 per cent are living below the poverty line. Where people see the oil companies taking all the profits it is difficult to get motivated and start your own business. It is like hell, the poverty - no one can understand it.'

'It is vital to establish an international commission to monitor what is going on,' Dr Askarov said. 'It is very dangerous to allow these corporations to work without a system of monitoring.'

Christian Aid's Director Daleep Mukarji reminded those at the launch why Christian Aid Week was crucial in the long term.

'Oil could genuinely be a blessing for these countries,' he said. 'This report reminds us that we should expose the scandal of poverty - especially this week when hundreds of thousands of people are filling their Christian Aid envelopes.'

May 12, 2003

- From the Christian Aid website:

Joseph Fiennes launches Christian Aid oil and poverty report /12.05.03

Actor Joseph Fiennes, who has just returned from a trip to Angola with Christian Aid, will today launch a hard-hitting report from the charity - revealing the human cost to poor communities across the world of the west's thirst for oil.

'Everyone assumes that oil means money, that having oil is good for the poor people of a country. Of course this issue is in the news at the moment because of Iraq and plans to hold oil in trust for the people,' says Mr Fiennes. 'In fact, oil often brings the opposite of wealth to ordinary people - it brings misery, poverty and more war.'

'I was shocked how poor the majority of people are in Angola,' says Mr Fiennes. 'I visited communities that don't even have safe water. Shockingly, almost two-thirds of Angolans are in this position. And yet Angola earns five billion dollars a year from oil.'

The report Fuelling poverty - Oil, war and corruption, launched to mark Christian Aid Week 2003, says that oil is a curse rather than a blessing to poorer countries. It reveals how oil-wealth has, more often than not, lead to greater poverty and a high likelihood of war and corruption, rather than peace, wealth and prosperity in developing countries.

Mr Fiennes will be joined at the launch by Fernando Macedo, director of the Association for Justice, Peace and Democracy - a Christian Aid partner organisation from Angola and Dr Tuelegun Askarov, an economist and journalist who works for Transparency Kazakhstan. The report features original research from both Angola and Kazakhstan.

'The war was financed by oil and diamonds, but now the war is over there is still no accountability and the government is still not showing the revenues from oil and diamonds, and we don't know where that money is being spent,' says Mr Macedo. 'People talk about blood diamonds but oil from Angola could be called blood oil.'

Dr Askarov says: 'Kazakhstan looks like hell. The oil people are wealthy but most others are poor and don't even have the basics like water. The country has an oil fund but it's basically a bank account in the President's name and he could go out and spend it all tomorrow. This is very dangerous.'

May 9, 2003

- You can send questions to Joe and watch an interactive forum with him on Monday at this BBC link (don't miss the great video clip at the top right-hand corner!) which says the following:

The actor Joseph Fiennes has been travelling through Angola, for the charity Christian Aid.

Beginning on Monday (May 12) you can see his special reports exclusively for BBC Breakfast.

And, immediately after Monday's programme, you can put your questions to Joseph Fiennes in a special interactive forum, which you can watch live on interactive TV - or through this website.

At the start of Christian Aid week, Joseph Fiennes set out to discover why Angola is so rich in natural resources, but remains under the yoke of poverty.

In a three-part series, he sees for himself the legacy of the country's 30 year civil war - and the threat to its future posed by the HIV/Aids timebomb.

You can watch the first of Joseph Fiennes' special series of reports on BBC Breakfast this Monday at 8.20am, on BBC One and BBC News 24

And you can send your questions for our interactive forum with Joseph Fiennes, which runs from 0915 BST to 0930 BSTon Monday

We'll also have an expert on hand, to explain the difference which international aid can make.

You can watch the forum live through this website - or, if you have digital satellite TV, by pressing your red button on Monday morning.

A recording will be available on this site after it has finished.

May 8, 2003

- UK TV alert!

There was a trailer this morning on the BBC's 'Breakfast' news programme with Joe in Angola. They said that he will be with them 'on the sofa' on Monday morning (May 12) and they will be showing his report from Angola all next week.
"Breakfast" is on air 6.00 - 9.00 am BST. It broadcasts on BBC1 but can also be picked up on BBC News 24 on satellite.

May 7, 2003

- We've decided to prolong our Contest until May 30th.

- There is a Sinbad link on ET Online, including a synopsis and two great video clips, one interviewing Michelle Pfeiffer and Joe, the other showing a little part of the voice recording in the studio.

- The Official Sinbad site (previously posted on our More Links Page) has added new features (story summary, characters, activity)

The Sinbad trailer can be found on Yahoo! Movies and on Imdb

- There is an interesting link about the catering on set of The Great Raid here